In which Betty embarks upon a New Adventure

I haven’t seen my Auntie Min since 1982 – but I’ll see her tomorrow! I just have to get through the ordeal of flying to the other side of the world. I have my aisle seat booked and some sleeping pills in my bag. Wish me luck!

I’m not a fan of flying – it’s that closed-in, trapped feeling that triggers all sorts of anxiety nasties. To short-circuit  the possibility of a mid-air incident (wouldn't that be embarrassing?), I have a cryptic crossword book, a notebook, something to read and something to write with. I may grab a Womens Weekly for Auntie Min as well.

I’m currently at the airport in Sydney, hideously early. That was my stuff-up. I booked my bus ticket from Canberra months ago. I’d actually booked a 3pm bus, but for some reason I had it in my head that I was to depart at midday. Oops. The nice man from Murrays let me on the midday bus instead (thank you!) and now I’m wafting about the airport with a few hours to kill before check-in, and a few more hours till it’s time for Etihad Airlines to take me up, up and away!

In the meantime I'm blogging, people-watching, eavesdropping on a group of airport cops talking about bikies and complaining about being bored (overheard: "Some days you just do a lot of wandering aimlessly"); watching a group of Malaysian tourists admiring(?) the airport's Nativity display, and wondering what the heck to do next. A cryptic crossword, perhaps, or should I head to the bar for a glass of Christmas cheer? 

Oh yes, Christmas - Merry Christmas everybody! More when I get to the Other Side. Onwards and upwards - let the adventure begin!

Wallowing - a Story in Pictures

So... the wading pool stayed in its box over the cold wet Christmas. We felt so - so cheated, somehow.

Today, though, was hot and dry, and the perfect day for a bit of wallowing in the wading pool (the Poobah & I call it 'Hippo-ing'.)

The Poobah, however, was nowhere to be seen when the pool needed to be inflated. Meh - she's asthmatic anyway. Besides, I have a hand pump.

Which doesn't appear to be working. Uh-oh...

Holy crap - thank goodness I'm not a smoker!
Oscar (lurking, stage left) : WTF are you doing?

Here Mum, now you've blown up the bottom half, I'll do the top one.

This is harder than it looks. I'll just, er, go and look for - for a pump. Or something.

No worries Boomerang Boy - these middle-aged lungs are in tip top shape! Wow, these head-spins are pure 1970s! Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeee!


Ha HA! I feel so STRONG and CAPABLE.... and light-headed...

Once the hard work had been done and Betty had regained consciousness, the Poobah turned up with the makings of strawberry daiquiris, and Betty got to sit in the pool first, to enjoy the fruits of her labour.

Boomerang Boy attended to the sausage sizzle and kept himself cool with a spray bottle of ice water...

And eventually we ALL got to do some hippo-ing! YAY! What a lovely way to spend a roasting afternoon in Canberra!

The Best Laid Plans - Christmas 09

Some people love Christmas. I'm not one of them. For lots of reasons I haven't been a fan of Christmas for years. I've Bah Humbugged my way through more than I can count. This year the Poobah (my daughter) and I decided to have 'Unchristmas'.

We had one last year at her little flat in Woden. We stayed in our pyjamas all day, drinking strawberry daiquiris, eating un-Christmassy food and watching un-Christmassy videos. It was great fun.

This year we thought to have it at my house, and add a new dimension to it - these southern hemisphere Christmasses are usually sweltering, so last weekend I bought - tadaaaaaaaaa - The Wading Pool. Here it is, ocky-strapped to the back of the bike. The plan was to spend the day wallowing in the water ('hippo-ing', we call it), sipping strawberry daiquiris and having a BBQ, before watching the (now) traditional un-Christmassy videos.

But - after a week of hideous temperatures well up in the 30s,
we woke to 10mm of rain in the gauge, and a steady fall that would continue all day and all night.

The best laid plans... oh well. Forget the wading pool. There would be no hippo-ing this Unchristmas. We still did the strawberry daiquiris, though, heh heh.



And the BBQ, cooked by the very talented Boomerang Boy and his lovely assistant, Oscar bin Laden, once Boomerang Boy (who had a big Christmas Eve) had recovered enough to don the BBQ hat and pick up the tongs.

If I help, can I have the leftovers?

Good BBQ - high five, little dude!

And the rain continued... 30mm and counting!

And we did watch Mrs Henderson Presents and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. And also The History Boys. And there was much laughter as well as a few cinematically-induced tears - and a good day was had by all.

And the daiquiris kept coming, and eventually the old chook nodded off, and her lovely children couldn't help themselves. Actually, they could - and they did. They helped themselves to her camera and look what she found on it when she woke up this morning. At least they hadn't drawn a penis on her forehead (something the Poobah has been known to do in the past. Just ask her friend Leanne!)

And the rain did (still!) fall.



Yes, that is just under 50mm in the rain gauge. The ground should be nice and soft for all the digging I have planned for the next week. For now, though, from all at Chez Betty - Merry (Un)Christmas!